All that rain was good for something: Citrus

Mérida, Yucatán — As the old saying goes, June flowers bring October citrus, or something like that.

Federal authorities anticipated an impressive citrus harvest of more than 300,000 tons, thanks to plentiful rainfall.

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Yucatán’s Agriculture ministry delegate, Pablo Castro Alcocer, said that since June the rains have benefited the Yucatecan citrus grower, unlike the last three years, when droughts that undermined otherwise healthy maize and citrus yields.

Even tropical storm Franklin, earlier this week, was friend to corn and citrus producers, who expect good harvests from October and November.

Castro Alcocer admitted that too much rain would create havoc for the citrus growers, but a 100-peso contingency fund exists to help farmers in a natural disaster.

Yucatán was the country’s fifth-biggest producer of sweet orange, the sixth-largest producer of lemon and the seventh-largest producer of grapefruit in 2016, and exports fruit as far away as Japan.